16,000 Workers Could Be Banned From Returning To Work Because Of Their Employers

Back in Aug 2020, it was announced that all dormitories, including standalone quarantine facilities, were cleared of Covid-19.

Then, it was announced that the dormitories will be moving into the next phase of recovery and additional safety measures were implemented.

One of them is the bi-weekly Rostered Routine Testing for all workers in the construction, marine and processing sectors.

Basically, workers in those areas have to undergo the swab test every 14 days and it’s the employers of these workers who are responsible for scheduling their workers for the first test.

As usual, several firms tried to circumvent the system but got themselves into the headlines instead.

You’d have thought that employers would’ve learnt from that incident, especially given the new clusters popping up in dormitories.

But nope, turns out, they did not.

16,000 Workers Could Be Banned From Returning To Work Because Of Their Employers

On 4 Sep 2020, MOM announced in their press release that there are still 16,000 workers who were not rostered for the bi-weekly rostered testing.

Previously, it was announced that workers who have not started their RRT cycle by 5 Sep 2020 might have their access code changed to “red”.

By the way, that’s today.

This means that they won’t be able to return to work.

MOM urges employers who have yet to do so, to make use of the Health Promotion Board (HPB) Swab Registration System to do so quickly.

It’s Actually Really Convenient

Now, if you’re wondering whether the firms didn’t do the scheduling for their workers because it’s too troublesome, it’s actually not as bad as you’d think.

When the bi-weekly routine testing system was announced (without much details) initially, you’d have thought that the companies have to hire one more person to schedule for the workers throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

But turns out, it’s only the initial part that’s troublesome.

Workers have to be manually scheduled by the companies for the first time, but after that, dates and times will be automatically provided for by the system.

All the companies need to do, after, is to log in daily to check if there are new workers they have to schedule.

It was added that companies which remain unresponsive might have their work pass privileges taken away.

Bi-Weekly Routine Testing Caught Many Covid-19 Cases

If you’ve been paying attention to the Covid-19 reports over the past few days, 9 new clusters have already popped up in dormitories around Singapore, including the biggest one with loads of people staying together.

Back then, Manpower Minister Josephine Teo had said that the bi-weekly Rostered Routine Testing has helped to catch many Covid-19 cases that would’ve been missed otherwise early.

That, together with the enhanced community testing and testing of workers in essential services, can help to prevent a repeat of dormitories going into lockdown.

Like what Minister Lawrence Wong said, the system has been set. It’s now up to the individuals to follow the spirit of the law.

Employers should try to do that part asap so that our foreign workers in dormitories don’t have to live through such anxiety again.